experimental archaeology

Getting Hammered: The Use of Experimental Archaeology to Interpret Wear on Late Bronze Age Hammers and Modern replicas

E. Giovanna Fregni (UK)
Metalsmithing tools such as hammers are rarely recognised for their significance in understanding prehistoric metalworking technology. Their development and specialisation signal new metalworking techniques and a wider array of the types of metal objects being made. Our knowledge of ancient metalworking is...

Book Review: Egyptology in the Present: Experiential and Experimental Methods in Archaeology by C. Graves-Brown (Ed)

S.J. Harris (SA)
The eye-catching and colourful cover illustration of the Egyptian creator-God Ptah, fully-equipped with modern toolkit, promises an informative journey into experiential and experimental archaeology in Egyptology...

Book Review: Recent Publications: Experimental Archaeology in the November 2015 Issue of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal (Volume 25, Issue 4)

E. Giovanna Fregni (IT)
In the last quarter of the 1900s, John Coles (1979) and Peter Reynolds (1999) introduced the subject of experimental archaeology, which has gained significant momentumin the past few years. The discipline has become essential for reconstructing past technologies, in addition to supporting archaeological theory.

Interview: "The Small Things Paint the Big Picture" with Harm Paulsen

Wulf Hein (DE)
I meet Harm Paulsen (70), the best known and longest working experimental archaeologist in Germany, in his apartment in Schleswig. Although the rooms aren't small, it is only possible to move around by holding in your belly and not breathing, as everywhere, standing, hanging or lying around, is evidence of Harm's professional and private life – a clear line between the two is not visible...

Experimental Archaeology

A scientific approach to testing theories based on archeological evidence such as artifacts and structures.

Book Review: Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa, Bilanz 2014

Christian Horn (DE)
Annual Proceedings of the EXAR Tagung
***Volume number 13 of the periodical Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa. Bilanz contains 215 pages with 18 different articles on a wide variety of subjects. The contributions are presented in four sections: Experiment and Test, Reconstruction Archaeology, Theory and Emanation’, and Short reports...

The Creation of an Experimental Camp of Protohistory at the Iberian Settlement of Estinclells (Verdú, Urgell, Catalonia)

J. Morer De Llorens,
R. Cardona Colell (ES) et al.
The idea to create the Experimental Camp of Protohistory (CEP) emerged in late 2009. It was set up in a field adjacent to the Iberian Culture settlement of Estinclells (Verdú, Urgell), an archaeological site with only one phase of occupation that offers an exceptional portrait of life in the third century BC...

Field Trials in Neolithic Woodworking – (Re)Learning to Use Early Neolithic Stone Adzes

R. Elburg,
W. Hein,
A. Probst and
P. Walter (DE)
OpenArch Dialogue with Skills Issue
***Excavations of several Early Neolithic wells with excellent preservation of the wooden lining in the past years have made clear that Stone Age woodworking already attained a very high level of perfection. This poses the question how it was possible to execute this type of work with the means available at that time...

Roundtables at University College Dublin, January 2015

Ruth Fillery-Travis (UK)
On 15 January 2015 around 25 people participated in the Academic Round Table chaired by Professor Bill Schindler from Washington College, and later this day in the Experimental Archaeology Networks Roundtable, with Roeland Paardekooper from EXARC chairing. Attendees came from a variety of countries, including Malta, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Latvia, UK, Sweden, the US and Poland...

Conference Review: 9th Experimental Archaeology Conference, Dublin 2015

Katy Whitaker (UK)
EAC Conferences
***The ninth Experimental Archaeology Conference was held over 16-18 January 2015 at University College Dublin (Ireland). A large gathering of nearly 200 delegates from more than 25 countries across the EU and the Americas was hosted by UCD School of Archaeology and the Irish National Heritage Park. Twenty papers and 26 posters...